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WHS boys will be more 'free-spirited'

WHEATMORE — Any coach will tell you that you can’t do the same thing every year mainly because you never send the exact same team out onto the court or field from season to season.

This year, Wheatmore High School boys basketball coach David Spell admits he’s going to have to change a bit.

“It’s a completely different team this year,” he said. “This team is high maintenance in a good way. They’re not as disciplined as last year’s team and they don’t play that well when they’re disciplined. They need a little room — they’re more free-spirited and play better if you untie their leash. That’s a growing thing for me.”

The Warriors graduated two of its top four scorers from last year’s 21-6 team, but there’s still plenty of experience coming back to the court.

Senior Madison Fountain and juniors Marshall Lange and Brayton Hardin are back after starting last season. Fountain, who will start at forward along with sophomore Ryan Grant, averaged 10.4 points per game last season, while Lange, who returns at the point guard spot, averaged 9.3. Hardin will start at the perimeter with junior Wyatt Rains.

“Madison will be our leader,” Spell said. “He finished strong last year. Him and Marshall have had great summers. Marshall’s playing really, really well. He started to flourish toward the end of last year; he grew mentally and physically.”

Lange also has grown four inches and added some bulk.

“He’s worked hard in the weight room,” Last year, he’d be losing those 50-50 balls.”

“We’re fairly deep this year,” Spell said. “Steven’s been a pleasant surprise. Chris and Seth should help us. We’re looking for a lot of things from Ian. Chris and Paul are great shooters and Dre is extremely athletic. Corey and Jagger are really good; they just need to get coached up.

“We’re not exceptionally big, but we’re not small,” added Spell, noting Grant stands at 6-foot-3 and Rains at 6-5. “We’ve got to get into shape. Even though we didn’t go that far in football, we’re still trying to get in shape. It maybe by the (Courier-Tribune Christmas Invitational) before we can say, ‘OK, this is what we can get out of these guys this year.’ “

And by then the coach may be a little more used to his more spontaneous squad.

“They really enjoy each other — sometimes a little too much,” he said. “It’s going to be a challenge for me. If you do it right as a coach, you have to adjust and teach to the style of the players. This team does play better on the offensive end in an uptempo atmosphere. They don’t run sets well.

“Offensively, we should be better. Defensively, I don’t know yet. It’s hard to replace some of our defensive players. Brayton’s a great defensive stopper. We’ve got to get the others to buy into it.”

Heading into Monday night’s game at Thomasville, the Warriors were 2-0 on the season with wins over Ledford (70-54) and East Davidson (81-52).

“We have to get better on the defensive end,” Spell said. “We’ve been shooting the ball extremely well. We scored 30 points in the third quarter against East Davidson — we made seven straight 3s. As much as we want that to happen, it’s not going to happen every night.”

Once the Piedmont Athletic Conference season starts, things are going to get even tougher. Last year, the Warriors lost to Randleman twice during the regular season, but ended up beating the Tigers in the PAC Tournament final to head into the postseason as the second seed. The teams met again in the first round of the playoffs with Randleman grabbing a three-point win.

“Randleman didn’t lose any of their top seven,” Spell said. “I’ve seen Trinity play and they’re solid. People may not think Eastern Randolph is as good early on because they’re still getting through with football. Providence Grove should be better and Andrews is really good. We’ll have to play every night; we can’t take a night off in the conference.

“I’m optimistic. This team is high maintenance, but they’re fun to watch and in practice. They’re free-spirited. They believe in the style we’re playing now. We’ll keep throwing it out there and see what happens.”